(AllHipHop News) Reverend Al Sharpton will be honored with the Humanitarian Award during this year’s BET Awards, which is being hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and will air live from Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on July 1.

The longtime political activist will join a list of previous honorees that include Magic Johnson, John Legend, Quincy Jones, Denzel Washington, Muhammad Ali, Wycelf Jean and others.

According to THR, Sharpton was specifically selected for “his work as the founder and president of the National Action Network, a nonprofit civil rights organization based out of Harlem, as well as his radio talk show (Keepin’ It Real) and his national cable television show (Politics Nation on MSNBC).”

In addition, following yesterday’s (June 17) troubling news that Rodney King was found dead at his home on Father’s Day at age 47, Sharpton has gone on record in a statement to call King a “symbol of Civil Rights.” He stated that King made the country “focus on the presence of profiling and police misconduct.”

He later praised King for spreading peace in the years following his vicious beating nearly 20 years ago by the LAPD that ultimately set off the infamous L.A. Riots. “Through all that he had gone through, with his beating and his personal demons, he was never one to not call for reconciliation and for people to overcome and forgive,” Sharpton proclaimed.

The 2012 BET Awards will air live from the Shrine Auditorium on July 1.